


When Life Gives You Lemons

by Myalpha



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Derek is kind of a not-really-famous actor, M/M, Open Gate, Spoilers for weird country movies AKA Open Gate, Stiles is a Little Shit, actor!derek, mild depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-17
Updated: 2013-09-17
Packaged: 2017-12-26 21:09:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/970320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myalpha/pseuds/Myalpha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU where Derek Hale was secretly an actor for a while before returning to Beacon Hills, and he acted in that questionable Open Gate movie, and Stiles finds it in the $2 section of a local store one day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Life Gives You Lemons

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT NOTE: This contains pretty big spoilers for the ending of Open Gate, so if you have an interest in watching that movie and remaining unspoiled, please do so before reading this fic.

It all began four years after the fire. They were still living in New York at the time, him and Laura. They had a small apartment in Brooklyn. Not big, they probably could have afforded somewhere bigger, more luxurious. But when they’d first arrived from Beacon Hills, rolling into the city in their parents’ old Camaro with the smell of ash still etched into their memories, neither of them had felt able to handle something too big. Too much space would only remind them of the big house filled with family that they’d too recently lost.

 

So New York was their home for many years. Derek finished high school, mostly to please Laura, And Laura threw herself into working, getting a job as an administrative assistant in a graphic design business. It wasn’t as if they needed the money, but they both knew it was more a distraction than anything else. But while Laura found her anchor in her job, Derek never found the same stability as his older sister. He never had the same dedication to his work as Laura did. Once he’d graduated from high school two years two years later, he found himself bouncing from job to job - mostly manual labor - before finally just dismissing the whole concept entirely.

 

He could tell Laura wasn’t really okay with it, but she was supportive enough, never really pushing him on the topic further than he could bear. Instead, she was content enough to just let him handle the household chores and furnish him with classic literature to read in his free time, “because dammit, Derek, if you aren’t going to do anything with your life you might as well fill your head with intelligent things, instead of horrible daytime television”.

 

Then one day, four years after they arrived in New York, Laura came home from work and demanded he get his life back on track. Well, to be fair, Derek’s pretty sure it wasn’t totally out of the blue. In fact, he’s pretty sure it probably had something to do with the fact that he hadn’t gotten out of bed all day. He couldn’t really pinpoint when it started, but even he would admit that he’d started to see the point in getting out of bed and dressed less and less lately. He’d always figured he’d hidden it from Laura, for the most part, but apparently it was harder to slip things past his Alpha than he had previously thought.

 

“I’m sick of you punishing youself, Der” she announced while they were eating dinner in front of the television one evening, waving her fork accusingly in his general direction. Derek tried to ignore her, at first, turning his attention to the supernatural drama show playing softly in the background.

 

“I’m serious, Derek. You can’t carry on like this” she said frustratedly. Derek considered arguing back, before remembering this was Laura he was talking to, and Laura would never take no for an answer if it wasn’t the answer she was looking for. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be contrary, however.

 

“Carry on like what?” he asked, somewhat petulantly.

 

“You know full well, Der. You’re acting like you’ve given up on yourself.” Derek opened his mouth to protest, but Laura continued on heedless, “Don’t you care what it’s doing to us, to me, to see my only family doing this to himself?”

 

Derek sighed. It wasn’t like he wanted to hurt Laura. Laura was really the only thing keeping him going most days, and she’d been so understanding about everything since the fire. She’d been the one to pick him up and keep him going, his anchor amongst the chaos and destruction. Derek sighed, and frowned angrily down at the plate in his lap.

 

“I just want to help you.” Laura said soothingly. Derek could almost feel the soothing calm of her emotions filtering through the pack bond. “You have to see someone.”

 

\---

 

So Derek found himself spending an hour a week in a psychologist’s office, in a sparse but softly-decorated room, talking to a nice lady by the name of Veronica. To his immense surprise, he didn’t hate it. He might have even cried, the first few sessions - an occurrence he never, ever could have predicted. And it took a while, but eventually he listened to Veronica’s encouragement and decided to find a hobby he’d enjoy, something to get him feeling positive emotions again.

 

Derek’s pretty sure that acting isn’t what she had in mind when she suggested it. But Laura just beamed when he’d suggested it offhand, and tried to hook him up with the various studios her firm regularly did contract work for.

 

So that’s how Derek ended up taking up his first acting role in a crime drama called ‘Castle’. It wasn’t a huge role, but everyone he mentioned it to had assured him that getting an actual speaking role - as a character who actually got decent screen time - was a big deal for a first job.

To Derek’s immense surprise, he found he actually quite liked it. It felt good, being able to shuck his own life for those few hours and pretend like he was someone else, someone with easier problems and a simpler life. So from there, he took odd jobs wherever he could get them - even landing the main role in a few small-budget movies. He was mostly just relieved to finally find something he was good at, something which could help him feel things again.

 

Of course, just he feels like just maybe onto a good thing, like he’s getting his life back on track, Laura goes back to Beacon Hills and everything changes.

 

\---

 

Derek forgot about his old life. He was so caught up with the rogue Alpha, then the Kanima, and later still the Alpha Pack. By the time he’d managed to get a chance to breathe, to go more than three weeks without the world seeming like the world was ending, he had almost completely forgotten his old life.

 

So when Stiles picks up the damn movie from a bargain bin in a Wal-Mart, brandishing it like a golden ticket with a shout and an infectious grin, Derek was thrown for a second. His face was plastered prominently across the top of the DVD cover, his name spelled out in big letters over it.

Fuck.

 

So Derek did the only thing he could think of. He tamped down his embarrassment and protested. Loudly, but firmly and threatening, flashing his (now beta-blue) eyes and growling deep and low. Mostly, however, he’s just so damn glad the pack isn’t around, because he has a feeling he’d never live it down. But despite his best efforts, Stiles still somehow manages to slip the DVD in with his purchases when they’re about to leave the store.

 

The next few days Derek spends hoping desperately that Stiles doesn’t tell anyone else. He watches the pack when he happens to see them, watching them anxiously for signs they might know, signs that they might think of him differently somehow because of it. Its not that he’s embarrassed, per se. Of course it isn’t. Its just that he doesn’t want to have to answer the barrage of questions which are no doubt going to follow. He’s still kind of amazed Stiles didn’t start bring out his interrogatory expression and begin a merciless round of questioning the second he picked up the case.

 

\---

 

Nothing happens. Not for weeks. Derek almost things he’s off the hook - that maybe Stiles just wanted it for his own idle curiosity. In hindsight, that was a laughable belief. There’s no way Stiles could resist the temptation, and even if he could, theres no way life could work so smoothly for Derek.

 

So lo and behold, Stiles pulls the DVD from out of nowhere at the next pack movie night, slipping it into the player before anyone had a chance to even ask what it was.

 

The pack are laughing uproariously almost as soon as the movie starts. To be fair, the rodeo clown get up was pretty ridiculous looking - and he can see how that would be emphasised by the fact that he’s pretty sure his pack can count on one hand the time’s they’ve seen him out of his leather jacket.

 

He endures an hour and a quarter of endless ribbing about playing the only non-accented character, about the stereotypical stetsons, about how Derek’s character is the only one without a gun. But Derek says nothing, waits patiently. Bides his time. Because he knows how this is going to end. The odds are definitely in his favor.

 

He’s not wrong. Just like he suspected, the pack starts to get emotionally invested in the story - reeled right in like a fish on a line. The insults and friendly ribbing taper off, replaced with intense focused silence. And then his characters’ dad dies, and Derek notices not one of them is unaffected. This is the moment Derek had been waiting for - the finest moment in his (albeit short) acting career. A genuine Mufasa’s death moment if he does say so himself. Derek looks over, an amused grin on his lips, as he sees tears even welling in certain pack-member’s eyes.

 

Stiles in particular looks like his heart is breaking. Derek isn’t to know at the time, but Stiles recognised that face. Had seen it before, in the loft after Boyd died. It just tore Stiles up inside, all too close to home - and he finds himself remembering Boyd and imagining how the Hale Fire and the death of Derek’s own dad must have affected the real Derek.

 

But Derek, well, he’s still enjoying watching the pack eat their mocking words about how hilarious the movie was going to be to watch. He, unlike them, can separate acting and real life in a way they don’t seem able to. He supposes its his experience in the industry.

 

In that moment, Stiles blinks back the moisture welling in his eyes, and sees Derek’s smug little grin. Stiles pulls a face in return, playfully jibing at Derek’s expression. And something about that exchange just makes Derek genuinely chuckle in place of a retort. Stiles just stops and looks intently at him, eyes wide, like he just saw something magical, and Derek is kind of thrown for a second.

 

The movie ends with Derek’s character smiling and driving away to start a new life, maybe even fix the old one. Derek kind of thinks its a common theme in his really life even, really, given what happened after the Alpha Pack.

 

Stiles is still looking over at him with wide eyes, but now his expression is tinged with something else… need? want? desire?

 

Derek is kind of beginning to think that maybe Stiles purchasing the damn movie wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

 

\---

As the pack are finally trooping out the door, Derek throws his arm across Stiles’ chest, blocking his exit. He thinks for a second Stiles is going to make a fuss, say something loud or sassy and draw the attention of the pack, but he just gets this look in his eye and waves away Scott’s concerned look back with a gesture that he’ll be fine dealing with Derek alone. Derek had never been fonder of Stiles than he was in that moment, he’d swear on it.

 

So Stiles remains behind. They’re both just standing there in the entrance to the loft, staring at each other with intense gazes, neither of them wanting to make the first move.

 

Finally Derek attempts to talk, his mouth feeling unbearably dry all of a sudden. Before he could get a single word out, however, Stiles throws himself at Derek. Suddenly he’s got an armful of teenager, and there are chapped lips pressed softly, chastely, against his.

 

It only lasts a second, but it feels like forever. It feels like Derek forgot to breathe. It feels unreal, like a dream. As soon as it happens, its over, and Stiles is pulling back, saying “Sorry dude, but I couldn’t let you ruin the moment. You were going to say something ill-advised, I just knew it”.

“And that was less ill-advised?” Derek snarks back, but theres no bite to it.

 

Stiles just takes on a dreamy expression for a second, before replying. “Absolutely. That was honestly the best idea I’ve had like, ever, you have no idea.” He pauses for a second. “Wait, I’m sorry. I hope you don’t mind, I just… I’ve wanted to do that for a while really, and I just…”

 

Derek knew that feeling. He’s pretty sure every werewolf in the pack, and some of the humans most likely, knew how he felt about Stiles. Its pretty much impossible to hide the surreptitious staring and the scents he gives off around the boy when he’s constantly surrounded by people with heightened senses and reflexes.

“I know how that feels,” Derek finally admitted, before sending an embarrassed look Stiles’ way.

 

In return, Stiles just beamed, and Derek found himself doing the same, swept up in the infectiousness of Stiles’ happiness.

 

Stiles pauses, pointing at Derek’s face and crowing: “That there! That’s what this is all about”. Derek looks confused at this statement, which must have been what prompted the boy to explain further. “I saw you smiling in that movie,” Stiles continued, “and I just, I wanted to see if I could make you smile like that in real life”.

 

Derek laughed, a musical, uplifting sound, before reeling the boy in for another kiss - deeper this time.

“You already do. You always do”.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [becauseyouaremyalpha](http://www.becauseyouaremyalpha.tumblr.com) on Tumblr, so follow me there if you desire more awesomeness.
> 
> Also comments are love.


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